Mercy
by Xxylo7
Summary: When shit hits the fan, surgeon Joe Adams is thrown directly into the line of fire. What's a woman to do when the world ends? Simple, survive. Or at least try to. At least she doesn't have to do it alone. [lost motivation, sorry to disappoint]
1. Chapter 1: Dooms day

Life isn't easy.

"Adams! If you don't get your ass into this ER so help me..!" the demand thinned out as Dr. Bailey ran down the crowded hospital corridor. A mop of black, disheveled hair followed the Dr hastily.

One day is all it takes to change it all.

Dr. Joe Adams gave a quick apology to what has to be the 10th person she has bumped in to, before continuing her chase after the short yet very fast Dr. Bailey.

"Have they figured out what's going on yet?" Joe asked, coming to a stop next to Bailey and began washing her hands along with the shorter woman. Bailey gave her a glance, quickly tying up her surgical attire over her scrubs.

"I don't know, that's not my job, that's not your job. Our job is to save lives." a silent look was sent across the two, before they both rushed in to the operation room.

It would have been impossible for them to have known, how could they have?

Joe looked down at the paiten dejectedly, hands raised, gloves covered in this man's blood.

"Time of death, 13:27." Dr. Bailey announced, dropping her tools on the table. They couldn't let this bother them, they had to move on, with all the patients swarming the hallways. Joe stepped back with a deep sigh as one of the nurses moved the blanket to cover the deceased patient's face.

She turned around, removing her gloves and tossing them into the waste bag. She began to untie her surgical attire when a startled scream had her spinning on her heal. A gasp escaped her mouth. The man- the dead, well supposed to be dead man was sitting upright on the table. Joe looked to the monitor where he was still connected to, no beeps sounded. It was still flatline.

"S-sir?" a nurse, Rebekah if she remembered correctly, hesitantly calls out.

The man made a groan, hands reaching out for her. Without thought, she rushes forward in hopes to help the man. Joe steps forward to help too, only to halt with horror as the man sunk his teeth into Rebekah's neck. She screamed in agony, trying to push the man away. Joe stepped back, bumping into Bailey as a male nurse ran forward in hopes to hold the savage patient down.

"My god.." Dr. Bailey cried out, falling backwards onto her ass. That snapped Joe out of her momentary stuper and rushed forward as Rebekah crumbled to the floor. Joe rolled her on her back, quickly applying pressure to the wound. Rebekah gurled blood, tears leaking out of her eyes. Blood seeped through Joe's fingers as she stared desperately down at the dying girl.

"Simon! Sedate the patient!" Joe yelled frantically, glancing over at the struggling nurse. More haunting groans sounds from the supposedly dead patient.

"Dr. Bailey, I need help! Get me something to stop the bleeding!" she yelled, not caring she was ordering her superior. One of the other nurses screamed and barged out the doors, Joe watched helplessly.

"Bailey!" she yelled again, looking over to the shell shocked woman.

"Get me something to fucking stop the bleeding!" Joe screamed, startling Bailey enough to get moving.

"Gah, Ow!" Simon yelled out, punching the patient. Joe looked over sharply, taking notice to the claw scratches on the nurse' arm. He stepped back only for the man to lunge at him again. He tripped over himself in his haste, landing on his ass just as Bailey had previously done.

They watched with horror and disgust as the man followed, his open abdomen spilling guts all over the once pristine emergency room floor.

Simon screamed as the man began to drag his body towards him, growling. Joe could only watch, frozen. Hands still firmly placed over Rebekah's throat.

Simon began to shuffling backwards, tears prickling in his eyes as the man- the dead man who was crawling towards him. The man grabbed Simons ankle, electing a scream from the nurse as he attempted to kick him away.

"Simon!" Joe choked out, as the man moved his mouth towards simons ankle. Just as he was about to sink his teeth into Simons ankle, a scalpel dug into his skull. Bailey dug it deeper into the man's skull, then let go with shaking hands. The man fell silent to the floor with a thud.

Simon hunched over and threw up.

"J..o-" Joe looked down at the dying nurse, who raised her hand to softly touch her face. Joe held her breath, tears in her eyes as Rebekah became limp. Her hand falling dead to the ground.

"Rebekah..?" she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.

The world was changing, and not for the better of humanity.

A few tears fell onto the dead nurses lax face. Joe shakily removed her hands, blood dripping off of them. A thud sounded as Bailey fell to her knees, looking at the man with a scalpel in his head with unseeing eyes.

"What did I just..?" Bailey whispered, tears silently streaking down her face. Simon dry heaved, moving backwards to rest against the wall, curling himself into a ball as a sob escaped him.

"Ok. ok, ok…" Joe repeated, sniffing. She looked around dazedly. They couldn't stay like this, they needed to get help. She harshly rubbed her face with the crook of her arm.

"We need to go.. Now." she stood on wobbly knees, using the wall to support herself. She knew is she didn't she would fall. She glanced at Simon, who now was crying hard. She decided to get Bailey first.

"Bailey?" she called out, walking slowly towards the woman. Scared that if she went any faster her knees would buckle. Bailey looked at her, her eyes wide a saucers.

"I didn't mean.. He was attacking and I-" Bailey rambled, grabbing her hair. Joe grabbed onto her shoulders, forcing the breaking woman to look at her.

"I know, I know… I understand- t-the cops will too… it was self defence.." Joe looked at her desperately, hoping to calm Bailey down. The woman nodded, looking as if she hadn't heard a word Joe had just said. She probably hadn't.

Joe looked over at Simon again, who was digging his fingers into his knees so hard his knuckles were white while he sobbed. She stood up again, looking to the door, finally noticing the screams outside of it. It felt as if her blood froze.

She clumsily walked towards the door, almost tripping over Rebekah's body. She let out a whine looking down at the girl. They were never close, only ever saying a couple hellos when passing down the hall or when she helped in the ER. but that didn't make her feel any less towards the girl, she had been kind to everyone and now she was dead.

She stumbled passed the sinks, not even considering the thought to wash her hands. Her head felt clouded.

She open the door a crack, just enough to fit her head out. Her heart stopped. People were running and screaming, patients were grabbing onto people with snarls, biting into anyone they could get a hold of. She held the bile back in her throat at the blood puddles and smears all over the walls and floors. She stumbled back into the room, the door closing shut in front of her.

"What's going on..?" She whipped her head back to Simon, who stood at the door. Eyes wide with fear after seeing a glimpse of the hallway.

"I- I don't k-know.. People are fighting and.." she swallowed "B-biting each other- there's blood everywhere.." she choked, Simon ran forward pulling her behind him. Stepping forward to look out himself.

"Don't go out there!" she said frantically, reaching out to grab his shirt. He shoved her hand away, moving forward anyway. He opened the door a crack and looked out, his whole body seemed to freeze. After a moment he came back in, closing the door. He turned to look at her grimly.

"I'm going to get help." her eyes widened, she looked to the door than back at him.

"You, you c-can't do that!" Joe yelled, stepping forward. There was no way he could do anything out there.

"I have to.. We can't just leave Rebekah like that.. Bailey needs help." she looked into his determined eyes. Feeling her heart twist painfully.

"B-but..!" he grabbed onto her shoulders in a hard grip, the suddenness surprising her.

"Lock the door behind me, i'll be back ok..?" he said, although it sounded as if he was trying to convince himself. She could only nod. Allowing him to pull her towards the door.

"Ok.." he whispered. Bouncing his leg slightly and taking a deep breath. With one last look at Joe, he barged out the door. She saw him look left, then run towards the right down the hall just before the door closed. She quickly locked the door. Her gut felt heavy. She couldn't help but think he just ran out to his death. And she didn't do anything to stop him.

Maybe the whole thing could have been prevented.

Her head zipped back as Bailey screamed. Fear spiked painfully in her heart as she rushed back into the room. Bailey was backing up, gasping wildly.

Rebekah was growling, reaching out with blood covered hands towards bailey. The wound on her neck spurting blood.

"Get back..! G-get!" Bailey yelled, kicking at the hands attempting to grasp at her. Joe looked around wildly, her eyes caught the bright red paint of the fire extinguisher on the wall. She ran forward, trying to pull it off the wall. With one hard yank, it came free from its place on the wall. she turned and ran toward Rebekah, raising the extinguisher above her head before slamming it down on Rebekah's head. She fell forward with a groan. They waited with baited breath, seeing if she really wasn't going to get up again.

"She j-just..!" Joe and Bailey screamed as Rebekah lifted her head towards Joe, jaw snapping open and closed. Joe whacked the dead nurses head, sending them both to the floor. Before Rebekah could get up again Joe smashed her skull in with the extinguisher. She stumbled to her feet, gagging. The extinguisher slipped out of her hand, clanging on the ground, rolling to the side. Joe didn't notice, she could only look at the splattered blood and brain matter that once was Rebekah's head.

Do you think they could all have survived if they had known what would happen that night in the emergency room, would they have even walked in?

Joe was aware of the screams outside of the ER, the gunshots. She couldn't think about it too long because then her mind would wander to Rebekahs smashed skull, spread all over the floor. Bailey was quick to drape a blanket over the deceased nurse and patient. No longer able to handle looking at either.

Joe allowed herself to be pulled away from the two dead bodys by Bailey, neither had said a word yet.

"We.." Bailey swallowed, glancing back at the blankets, blood started to seep through the white material. "We need to get out of here.." Bailey whispered, looking around the room. She started to walk to the door, only to halt as Joe's hand holds her in place.

"Not out there.." Joe gags again, trying her best not to collapse on the spot. Bailey looks to the door, nodding as she heard a set of loud screams followed by gunshots.

"Where..?" Bailey looked to Joe, who hunched over and hurled. Not being able to hold the sickness in her stomach any longer. Bailey hesitantly held her hair back, glancing back at what once was Rebekah.

Once Joe was done, she made a sound of disgust. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Not registering the dried blood that covered them. She looked to Bailey with a weak smile, which she shakily returned. Joe looked around the room, in hopes to find a way to escape.

Since it was the ER, the only windows in the room were the observation ones. Which were at least 10 feet in the air above them. One more glance around the room, she noticed a vent near the back right corner.

As much as life screws us over, there's always a way out of something. Whether it be a vent or death.

Bailey helped Joe push the operation table under the vent, both panting once finished. Joe looked over to the table holding all the tools and walked over, picking up a bloody scalpel. She reached the table again and climbed on top of it.

The bottom of the vent reached her collarbone while the top was about a foot above her head. It was wide enough to fit, so they wouldn't get stuck hopefully. She used the scalpel to unscrew the vent grate from the wall, and pulled it off. The vent was dusty, but looked big enough for them to fit in.

"We'll have to jump a bit to get in…if i'm right, this should lead to another ER or the scrubs room.." she looked back at Bailey, who nodded. Joe glanced at the bodies, than the door once more before crawling into the vent.

It was a tight squeeze, and her leg scraped on the edge of the vent. She went forward a bit, testing the sturdiness. Only a small, barely noticble groan sounded. Her stomach dropped at the possibility of the vent falling into a hallway or a patient's room.. A patient with a snapping jaw, greedy hands, blood smeared all over them-

"Joe? Can you move a bit, I can't get in." Joe shuffled forward swallowing her fear. It's too late now to go back, and she really did not want to face the horrors of that hallway.

She began to move forward slowly, she isn't able to look back so she'll just have to assume that Bailey was following her. Father up ahead she could see light shining in through another grate and the vent turned off to the right. So they have two choices.

Making sure to be quiet, she crawled over to the vent and looked through. Her eyes were drawn to the door, which lead outside of the ER. she paused taking a deep breath, she could see a pair of bloody legs laying in the hallway. Shifting her eyes away from the corpse, the ER was in similar destruction as theirs. She looked to the floor almost expecting to see Rebekah's bludgeoned head.. They couldn't go in there.

She veered to the right, ignoring Bailey's gasp as she too passed the room. Down a little further was another grate, which she hopes is the scrub room. That means their stuff will be there, more importantly their phones. They can call for help, finally figure out what the hell is going on. Maybe even find Simon again.

As she reached the grate, she looked through. She let out a sigh of relief once she noticed the door was closed. The room was almost exactly how she remembered it this morning when she first started her shift. Besides the pool of blood that was leaking through from under the door.

She braced herself. The grate's are screwed shut from the outside so she'll have to knock it out somehow. The vent is too tight of a space for her to turn and kick, so that leaves her fists. She would take her shirt off to soften the blow, but she was sure her arms would get stuck in the motion.

With a shaky breath, she pulled back her fist as much as she could, and punched the grate. It made a groaning noise. She hissed, pulling her hand back again. She couldn't focus on the cuts it was making. She landed another punch, biting her tongue as to not yell out in pain. It was almost off.

One last punch and the grate's top came undone, falling down and banging against the wall. Joe quickly crawled out of the vent, landing on the ground with an ungraceful thud. Tears stung in her eyes as she looked down at her right hand. It had left multiple gashes on her knuckles. She wanted to suck on them to ease the pain, but her hands were still covered in blood. In Rebekah's blood.

She heard Bailey crawl out and call her name, Joe turned to the woman with a grimace.

"Joe.." Bailey gasped, "Your hand!" she whisper yelled, helping Joe stand up. After looking around for a moment they noticed a door with the ladies room symbol. Walking over, Bailey was about to open the door when they heard shuffling come from inside. Bailey pulled her hand back as if she had just been burned. The two woman looked at each other hesitantly.

"Open the door, it'll be ok.." Joe mouthed, standing in front of the door, holding the Scalpel up defensively. Bailey looked at her as if she was crazy, but still moved over to the side to open the door. Joe's hand burned, and she really just needed to clean it off.

"1..2.." Joe mouthed, "3!" she yelled, Bailey swung the door open. Joe took a step back in shock, Scalpel dropping from her hand.

"D-don't move! I'll sh-shoot!" there, standing in front of the sink. Shaking hands holding a .45 ACP handgun, finger on the trigger stood Sarah D., one of the Pediatric doctors.

"Sarah? It's me, Joe." Joe said slowly raising her hands, she does not need a bullet hole in her chest. She spared a glance at Bailey, silently telling her not to move.

"J-Joe..?" Sarah asked, slowly letting the gun fall. Joe looked back to Sarah, who looked relieved to see her.

"Can I have the gun?" Joe asked as calmly as she could, although on the inside her heart was hammering against her chest a mile a minute. Sarah slowly handed the gun over. Joe held the gun in her left hand, it was lighter than the one she used to use at the shooting range when she was a kid. She hasn't touched one since. She let another sigh go as she noticed the safety was on.

Bailey walked out from behind the door, startling Sarah. She slowly walked out of the bathroom, taking in their appearances with a quivering lip. Joe was sure they looked awful, blood splattered everywhere, vomit on the front of her shirt, Rebekah's brain matter.. She clenched her hand, only to hiss in pain. Reminded of her injury and the whole reason why they needed the bathroom in the first place.

She walked past Sarah, who stumbled out of her way. Sarah was as clean as ever compared to Joe and Bailey.

Placing the gun on the edge of the sink, she turned the tap on, thanking god that it still worked. She shakily put her hand under, biting her lip at the stinging feeling. Slowly it began to hurt less, and she watched the blood swirl down in to the drain. She could dimly hear Bailey calming Sarah down in the room. Explaining what had happened to them.. About Rebekah and how simon left.. The patient coming alive and..

Joe looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was disheveled, her cheeks had splatters of blood. Her shirt was covered in so much blood it was nearly impossible to see the original blue of the scrubs. She could see the terror in her eyes, the fear. They looked scared, just like Rebekahs before she-

Joe hastily turned off the tap, grabbed a towel stacked off to the side and held it over her fist. She shoved the gun into the hem of her scrub pants. Not wanting to leave it in the bathroom. Joe walked out to see Sarah and Bailey leaned against a wall next to each other, as far away as they could get from the puddle of blood coming from under the door. Bailey noticed her and beckoned her over, holding some gauze.

Joe slumped down next to Bailey and gingerly held her hand out for her to wrap. There were at least 7 cuts, all looking pretty deep. As long as she kept it cleaned and covered it wouldn't get infected. Luckily, they weren't cut deep enough for her to need stitches. Bailey pulled out a bottle of disinfectant and Joe groaned. Sarah gave a weak, sympathetic smile as she pulled her knees to her chest.

Life is painful, some can't handle it. While others thrive through all it's hardships.

Joe let out a whine as she kept her mouth clamped shut. That stung like a bitch. She let out a shaky breath as she watched the white residue slowly disappear. Once it was fully gone, Bailey carefully wrapped her hand. Joe wiggled her fingers slightly before letting her hand drop into her lap.

"Why were you in the bathroom, and where'd you get the gun?" Joe asked Sarah tiredly. Sarah stiffened slightly, looking back to the bathroom then the blood puddle.

"I was in the pediatric hall, taking care of the babies and such. When I started hearing gunshots and screams, I went to go investigate- it- it was horrible. The army was shooting peo-," she took a breather, calming herself down, "they were shooting people left and right, I got dragged off in the comotion. I kept trying to make my way back t the babies and when I did-" a look of horror spread across her features, she gagged.

"People- patients were eating the babies!" she said frantically. Bailey and Joe only watched with sympathy and terror as tears fell down Sarah's cheeks. After a bit, Sarah calmed down.

"This guy, a cop i'm sure. He had the uniform, the gun, everything." she said, as if they wouldn't believe her. "He took me in here, gave me his gun and told me to wait in here." she explained, then looked to the door.

"Someone was banging on the door and growling, I got so scared I hid myself in the bathroom. Then I heard more gunshots and…" she gestured with her head to the door. They all sat in silence. This was really happening. People were dying, eating eachother. Joe was sure Rebekah had died, that man had died. They were dead, yet they starting moving as if they were alive and growling.

"We should change our clothes.." Bailey broke the silence, standing up and walking over to the rack that held clean scrubs. Since she had a late shift, Joe hadn't bothered wearing normal clothes to work, just her spare clean pair of scrubs. With a dejected sigh, Joe stood and walked over to the rack, taking a shirt and pants off of it.

She took the gun out of her pants and placed it on the bench. She took her shirt off and threw it to the ground in disgust. Then looked down at herself. There were some blood spots on her skin. She would just have to wait till later before she can shower. She pulled the clear slips off her sneakers. Then took off her pants and threw it on her discarded shirt. She let go of a sigh of relief as the blood drenched clothes were removed. She pulled on the clean clothes and retucked the gun in her pants. Joe looked over at Sarah.

"I'm just going to-"

"Go ahead. Keep the damn thing, I don't want it." Sarah shivered, referring to the gun. Joe nodded. Bailey came back over in a pair of jeans and a grey T-shirt. She brought over her purse and was rummaging through it. An idea suddenly hit Joe, phone. She ran to her locker, nearly running into it. She shakily did the combination, open the locker and yanked out her backpack.

She unzipped it while walking back to the other 2 woman. Sarah was still sitting, tucked in a ball watching Bailey on the phone. She wasn't talking so whoever it was that she was calling, isn't answering. Joe grabbed her phone, dialed the number she knew by heart and waited for it to ring.

After 3 steady rings, the voicemail button sounded.

"This is Sam Adams, you know what do do." another beep sounded.

"Hey, it's Joe." her voice came out shaky, "some crazy shit is going on, i'm not sure what to do. Just- just stay safe k? If I don't see you alive and well again i'm going to kick your ass.." she trailed off as tears threatened to fall.

"Be safe, little brother." she heard the machine beep again, and let her hand dangle at her side limply.

"Hey.." Sarah started, looking sorry. Joe just shook her head and wiped under her eyes with her good hand.

Joe sucked in a breath, looking at her phone again before dialing 911.

It rang once, twice, then beeped. And automatically hung up. Joe stared at her phone in shock. She looked to the other two. Sarah looked confused while Bailey looked just as worried as she was.

"They just hung up." Joe said dumbly. Bailey nodded in agreement. Sarah looked in between the two in shock.

"They what?" she asked quietly.

"Maybe they just-" Baileys words were cut off by a thundering boom. They all let out a scream as the building shook and dust fell off the ceiling. They could hear loud bangs not to far away, and more people screaming.

"What the hell was that?" Sarah yelled in panic.

"Are they bombing the hospital?" Joe yelled over another deafening crash. Sarah stumbled on to her legs and ran for the door.

"We need to get out of here!" she yelled, grasping the handle. Joe and Bailey ran forward.

"Wait..!" Joe's yell went unheard as Sarah flung the door open, she backstepped with a scream as a body fell into the room, adding more blood to the previous puddle.

"Holy shit.." Bailey whispered. The corpse was badly mutilated. Its abdomen, legs, arms have all been torn in to. The floral, torn up scrub uniform and bloody blonde hair was the only indication that it was once a woman.

Joe swallowed, pulling the gun out of her waist. Ignoring the burning in her hand as she held the gun with a tight grip. She stepped over the body, trying hard not to think about it too much. Looking down the hall, the hospital was in utter chaos.

To the left is the cafeteria, but Joe got rid of that possibility as soon as she saw the doors. The handles were chained together and a slab of wood sat in between them. That didn't stop whatever was inside, bloody fingers kept poking in through the small gap the chain allowed, aggressive growls coming from the sick people inside.

Joe reached back and grabbed on to Baileys wrist with her left hand and began pulling her down the hallway to the right. Following her example, Bailey gabbed Sarah's hand. Joe opened a set of double doors. Straight ahead of them were screams of pain, patients, doctors were eating other people trying to run away. They watched in horror for a moment as a doctor savagely began biting and eating a Patient's face, the howls of pain echoed off the walls.

Joe turned a sharp left, trying to get as far away from that as possible. She could hear Sarah's constant gagging, and Baileys harsh gasps. Joe was trying not to focus on anything other than getting out, she was scared that if she let herself register what was going on she would have a panic attack and get killed.

As they ran forward, their line of hands was tugged back as Sarah screamed. They whipped their heads back only to gape in horror. A patient had grabbed one of Sarah's arms and took a huge bite out of her forearm. Sarah screamed in agony, trying to tug her arm back.

"Sarah!" Joe screamed, tugging Bailey and ultimately tugging Sarah out of the Patients grasp. The patient reached out with a snarl again, Joe pointed the gun at his temple and fired. The gunshot seemed to ecco in her mind as the body crumpled to the floor and Bailey began to pull her away.

Life isn't fair.

Joe watched numbly as Bailey opened up a door with almost enough force to throw it off its hinges. Bailey tugged the two girls in and slammed the door behind her, panting as she locked the deadbolt. Joe could only stare silently at the gun in her hand, barely aware of Sarah's crying.

Bailey looked to the unresponsive Joe then to the hysterical Sarah holding on to her bleeding arm. She hadn't paid attention to the room they went in, turns out it wasn't even a room. It was the emergency stairs. It was terrifying, being in the open and the flickering lights were not helping.

"Joe, Joe…" Bailey started, grabbing on to the woman's shoulders. Joe looked in to Bailey's eyes, but all she could see was Rebekah's head. What used to be Rebekahs head. She just killed 2 people. They're not going to wake up, and it's her fault.

"You had to Joe! Don't do this.. I c-cant- I don't know h-how to use a gun… a-and Sarah is bleeding a lot. We need to go!" Bailey screamed, tears in her eyes as she hastily glanced at Sarah who gave a pained whine. Joe looked over at Sarah, who was still crying, blood gushing all over herself. She couldn't help but think about how the patient sat up, and bit into Rebekah's neck, how her blood had spurted through her hands-

"Joe..!" Bailey yelled, slapping Joe harshly.

Joe's head snapped to the side, her cheek red. That seemed to shock her out of her stupor. Joe didn't look at Bailey as she rushed over to Sarah, now aware of where they were. She gingerly lifted Sarah's good arm and placed it over her shoulders and began walking towards the stairs down. Bailey hastily followed.

After stumbling down the first floor of stairs, they were greeted to 7 snarling, bloody faces. The three girls paled as they began stumbling towards them. Joe pivoted as fast as she could while supporting the crying Sarah. She quickly began ascending the stairs upwards again, Bailey leading the way as fast as she could. The growls and grasping hands pumped them full of adrenaline, allowing them to make it up to the 3rd floor of the hospital.

Bailey opened another door, ushering us through before slamming it behind them. They quickly began running away from the door, the only way to lock the stair doors is if you had a key or deadbolt it from the inside. None of them had a key, and they definitely weren't going back into that Staircase. They could hear screams coming from down the hallway.

Bailey opened a random door and ran inside, followed by Joe and Sarah, who had finally stopped crying and was now moaning in pain. Bailey closed the door, and gestured for Joe to help her move the rolling bed in front of it. Joe left Sarah to lean against the wall, and rushed over to help. Once it was in front of the door, Bailey turned the locks on the wheels so it wouldn't move.

They let out a breath, only for a groan from Sarah to remind them what was going on. Joe went to her and knelt down quickly in front of the bleeding girl, her gun dropped to the floor as she moved Sarah's hands out of the way so she could keep pressure on the wound. She looked around the room as Bailey scavenged for something to stop the bleeding. They ended up inside one of the hospitals cleaning rooms, there were a few washing machines stacked on top of one another in the corner. A trash chute, towels and pillows stacked.

Bailey scrambled over to the two, a wrap of gauze in her hand and disinfectant.

"I found bodles of this stuff in the back, but it's going to hurt.. A lot." without waiting for feedback, Bailey unscrewed the cap and began pouring it on to Sarah's wound. Sarah screamed in pain, trying to pull her arm back, only for Joe's strong hold to keep it in place.

Their head whipped to the door as it began to rattle, growls and groans coming from the people trying to take a bite out of them. Sarah began crying again, which only made them louder and pound on the door harder. Joe got up, grabbing the gun. Giving Bailey enough room to finish treating to Sarah's wound. She walked over to the window, eyes wide.

Helicopters were roaming the sky's, along with fighter jets. Dark puffs of smoke, going in all directions, army men shooting Patients, doctors. People eating eachother… she looked away. They need to get out of this closed room, they're sitting ducks here. The only thing keeping them from becoming sick people chow is that door. And that will only hold for so long.

Even so, you still try and live. Fight, because it'll get better. It has to.

"You were lucky he didn't get any arteries." Bailey said, sending a look to the rattling door. Sarah groaned, clutching her arm to her chest.

"Sonofabitch bit me!" Sarah laughed out humorlessly, Tears streaming down her face. Joe could only look at the blood covered girl with a grimace. She looked down at herself, only to find herself in a similar state. Helping Sarah walk had gotten her clothes thoroughly covered in blood. Again.

"We need to get out of here, that door won't hold long." Joe voiced her thoughts, looking around the room for an escape.

"How?" Bailey asked, also looking around. "There's no vent and we can't go out the window, that's a long drop.." Bailey hesitantly glanced over at the window, paling at the idea. Joe sighed in annoyance, rubbing her face. She looked at the door with a frown, the growls had worsened and the hammering on the door only grew louder. Who knows how many of them were outside that door, dead eyes and snapping jaws. She did not want to find out.

Looking around again, her eyes zeroed on the trash chute. Her eyes widened at the simplicity of it, and the stupidity. In any normal situation, there would be no way in hell that she would even consider the trash chute as an exit, but this was no normal situation was it?

"Hear me out," Joe started, warily eyeing the door. "This may sound completely insane." Joe walked over to the trash chute, and opened up the latch, looking down. It was dark, but she could see that it would be big enough for at least two body's to go down at once. The only problem would be the drop, and whatever lies at the bottom of the chute. The thought sent a shiver down her spine.

"What is it- you can't mean!" Bailey harshly whispered, also sending a look at the door. Joe looked back with a weak smile.

"We don't really have a choice do we? It's not as if those peo- things outside the door are a part of the welcome committee." Joe looked back into the chute, swallowing the lump in her throat. Bailey looked at the trash chute, than to Joe, and back again. She was right, they really had no other choice. Bailey looked back at Sarah, who was focusing on breathing. Trying not to scream at the terrifying situation.

"What about..?" Bailey suggested to Sarah. Joe looked to the pained girl, than back to Bailey.

"I can go first.." Joe looked at the chute again, "then you'll help Sarah in, then you'll go.." she explained, though truthfully she was terrified.

"We don't know what's down there.." Bailey's eyes were wide and frightened. "What if they are d-down there…" the pointed look towards the door sent Joe's heart thumping. She didn't want to think about that, she couldn't. Sucking in a breath, she steeled her eyes. She had to be confident everything would be okay. Joe walked over to Sarah and knelt down in front of her. Bailey stood off to the side silently looking down the chute.

"Sarah, we have a plan. It's insane.. But just listen, k?" Joe started slowly, making sure to have Sarah's undivided attention.

"Were going down the trash chute." silence filtered between the three girls, the only sound was of the banging door and hungry snarls. Screams and sirens could be heard in the distance. Gunshots. Sarah laughed out loud, looking at Joe as if she were the one who bit her.

"Were what?" Sarah gasped, noticing the serious look on both Joe and Bailey's faces.

"I know it may seem crazy, but we have no other choice. Were stuck here and that door won't hold much longer. I don't want to see what's on the other side of it." Joe said, looking to Sarah hopefully. She didn't want to voice these thoughts but if it came down to it, Joe would leave Sarah if she was unwilling to comply. She knew that it was horrible to think that, but she couldn't help it.

"Crazy? That is not possible.." Sarah sent a horror filled glance at the door, realising how there really was no other way.

"There's no other way..?" she asked quietly, eyeing the chute with hesitance. Joe shook her head, relieved that Sarah was starting to understand her plan. Even if it was a completely stupid plan.

"Shit.." Sarah whispered. Joe stood, deciding they have wasted enough time. She needed to do this before she thought about the plan to much. The thought that she would die from a trash chute almost sent her into a fit of giggles. The idiocy of the matter was just too much.

"It's now or never." Joe said, opening up the chute and looking down again. She held her breath as she eased her legs over the edge, they dangled down into the chute. Joe looked back with a failing smile.

"I'll wait down there for you.." with one last look to the girls, she swallowed the fear in her throat and pushed herself in.

Who would have thought this was how the world would end?

Bailey ran forward, it felt as if all the air left her lungs. She looked down the chute to see Joe's mop of black hair disappearing. Her heart leaped in her chest. She looked back to Sarah, who looked pale as snow, staring at the trash chute.

"She actually jumped." Sarah said. Letting it sink in. Bailey shook her head of all bad thoughts and rushed forward, helping Sarah stand. Joe would be okay, but they wouldn't be if they stayed here.

War lead humans to kill each other for power, now they do it for hunger.

Joe closed her eyes tight, her stomach hurt from the weight of the landing. Would she fall on to hard cement and break her legs? What if it lead to a drop, or if it was closed off and she had no way of getting back up. She would die from starvation in a trash chute.

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off as a flash of light flooded her face, causing her eyes to snap open. Before she could take in her surroundings she landed on a heap of something. She groaned, then froze.

She gagged, wide eyed. Trying to scramble out of the huge trash bin she landed in. which was filled with corpses. She could feel blood soaking in to her clothes, all of the corpses had bullet holes. She's seen dead people before, but no so many all discarded as if they were just a piece of litter you see on the street.

She fell out of the bin with a thud, landing on the cement of the hospital parking lot. Her body landed on her hand and she felt tears spring to her eyes. Her hand was burning. She looked back to the bin, and felt the bile in her throat rise.

Hands and feet dangled out the side of the bin, and a head was rested on the side. Their dead eyes looked at her, a bullet hole in between them.

She looked to the chute as a scream sounded, along with thumping. For a split second she was terrified they had managed to break through the door, but a heap of a person landing in the large, green trash bin erased those thoughts.

Joe scrambled forward to quickly get Sarah out of the bin. She practically dragged the horrified Sarah out, who was staring at the bodies. Once out, Sarah stumbled and fell to her knees. Breathing deeply. More thumping was heard and Bailey emerged out of the chute, landing in the pile of bodies. Noticing them, Bailey jumped out. Landing hard on the ground. She looked behind her at the bodies and threw up. Sarah stared blankly ahead, gripping on to her bandaged arm.

Joe shuffled to stand, looking around. Everything was in chaos.

She looked to the side, and not far away were people, army men fighting off people trying to take a bite of them.

"God, we have to go..now." Joe helped Sarah stand up, and Bailey followed. Also taking notice to the war going on in front of them.

They ran towards a grassy hill just outside of the parking lot. They were lucky and unlucky that the chute lead to the outside of the hospital and not to a dead end. However, now they were in the complete open. Injured and practically defenseless.

Joe's house was 2 blocks away from the hospital, If they could make it there they would be safe until this whole thing blows over. She didn't bother explaining this to them, they could talk about going to their houses once they were all safe in doors and away from snarling patients.

Once on top of the hill, Joe headed towards the street across from it.

She sucked in a breath as a man, a normal civilian turned his head towards them. And began to shuffle towards them, groaning hungrily. Joe raised the gun, grip so tight her knuckles were white. She really didn't want to shoot him, for all she knew he was just sick.

"What are you waiting for!?" Sarah screamed. Joe pulled the trigger, hitting the man in the shoulder. They watched with horror as he didn't even register it and continued towards them. Joe shot again, this time hitting him in the eye. The bullet went straight through his skull and he dropped like a log to the floor.

Sarah tugged on joe's arm and they began running down the street. She could see the familiar stop sign she sometimes passed when she would go out for a run. The street looked nothing like it used to. Bodies, walking and on the ground were everywhere. Blood Splatters, guts, brain matter everywhere too.

Turning down to the right, a woman in sleepwear turned to them. Chewing on something, they noticed it was covered in blood. Then they noticed the guy on the ground, bleed profusely from the bite wound on his neck. Sarah screamed, and Joe and Bailey gagged.

Joe raised the gun and shot the woman, the bullet went through her for head. Sending the woman to the ground, unmoving. Bailey rushed forward and knelt beside the man, putting her hands on the wound on his neck.

"What do we do? What do we do..?" she said, looking to the two girls. Joe looked helpless, while Sarah was whipping her head every which way, gripping on to Joe's left arm.

"I-" Joe started, only to stop from a harsh tug from Sarah.

"Who cares! We need to go, he's dead now.." Sarah sent a fleeting glance to the man, who gurgled blood. His movements were slowing down.

For a split second, Joe felt pure hatred for the girl clung to her arm. Her hands felt like burning acid, and she wanted to rip her arm away. But she knew tensions were high, and Sarah wasn't thinking straight because of blood loss.

Bailey looked down sadly as the man's movements stopped altogether. She retracted her hands and moved forward to close his eyes, only to scream as he lunged forward, growling. Joe shot him in the temple and he dropped like a rock. They all looked at each other in horror and bewilderment.

Joe grabbed Baileys arm and dragged her along with Sarah. They could talk later. Right now, all they need to do was get to her house.

They turned another corner, and Joe could see her house. She began to run faster, pulling the two girls to keep up with her speed. They managed to dodge a girl in a bathing suit who reached out for them, they knew she wasn't ok. Her stomach was slashed open, sending her intestines out onto the road. Yet she walked as if it weren't even there.

They stomped up her porch steps and Joe shakily lifted a plant pot and grabbed the spare key from under it. She rammed it in the lock, unlocked the door and flung it open. The three girls ran inside and Joe took the key out, slammed the door shut and locked it. They all backed away from the door, panting. Joe's head snapped to the window and she cursed herself for having such thin curtains. She placed the gun and key on the coffee table and open a closet door, pulling out blankets.

"Bailey, help me pin these up." she tossed a few blankets to Bailey, who caught them with a shaky nod. She didn't bother asking Sarah, knowing she wouldn't be able to. Joe went to the garage and flicked on the light. She reached into a basket and pulled out a hammer and some nails.

She could worry about the damages to her house once this whole epidemic blows over. For now, all she cares about is nothing being able to see them inside of her house. She jogged back into the livingroom, Bailey propped up a chair under the window. And Sarah was slumped on the couch, staring at her bandaged arm in worry and disbelief.

Once they got the house locked down, then they could worry about injuries.

Joe climbed up on the chair and held a corner of the blacket up with a nail and hammered it in. Bailey and Sarah jumped at the sudden loud noise.

Once she finished and was satisfied nothing could look through, she stepped off the chair with a sigh, dropping the hammer from her hand. The room was dark now that the natural light wasn't filtering in. Joe turned on the lamp and illuminated the living room.

Joe fell to her ass on the floor. Her legs felt like jello. She let out a shuddering breath, running her hands through her hair. She let out a hiss as her right hand clenched. She looked to see blood seeping through the bandages.

They all sat in silence for a while, all taking in what had just happened.

"Is it a virus?" Bailey hesitantly asked from her spot on the couch next to Sarah, who looked very pale. Joe thought about that for a moment. What was going on? That man had died on the table, and he came back to life. And he bit Rebekah.

People were eating each other. What in the hell causes that? Did some new kind of Virus, or an outbreak happened. Had washington created something that causes people to resort to cannibalism, and come back from the dead? She shot that man in the shoulder and it was as if she had thrown a crumpled ball of paper at him. And that girl in the bathing suit, her stomach was…

"I don't know." Joe said, eyes flickering from Bailey to Sarah, who had become more pale. Joe stood once she felt like her legs could hold her and walked to the couch.

"How are you feeling Sarah?" she asked. Sarah looked to her tiredly.

"Not so good… I feel hot." Joe put her hand to Sarah's forehead, she was burning up. Joe's brow crinkled. She did lose a lot of blood, and the fatigue was catching up to all of them right now.

"You can lay down in the spare room, do you want to have a shower first and change your clothes?" Joe offered, nodding her head towards a door she knew lead to the bathroom. Sarah shook her head, saying she was too tired.

Joe helped her stand up and walked her to the spare room. Sarah laid down and curled up under the covers, Joe could hear her begin to sniffle and left the room. Sarah needs space to breathe and cry, today was stressful on her, on all of them.

Joe walked back to the living room to see Bailey rubbing her face tiredly, content on sitting on the couch and staring at the now covered windows. Joe plopped down on the couch next to her, releasing a shaky sigh.

"What are we going to do? What the hell is happening?" Bailey asked, looking to Joe with sad eyes. Joe could see the glistening tears in her eyes.

"I don't know." she said. For once, she had no idea what to do.

Life fucking sucks.


	2. Chapter 2: Forgive me

She awoke with a start, her heart hammering in her chest. At first she didn't know what was wrong.

Had she had a bad dream? Had it all been a dream?

Slowly memories of yesterday filtered through her mind. Her gut began to drop, her heart race picking up as she felt bile rise.

Please be a dream.

She rose out of her bed, her covers, damp with sweat, falling to her lap. She went to get up only to trip as her legs were tangled in the blanket.

She fell forward to the floor, reflexively holding her hands out to stop her fall.

"Sonofabitch!" She yelled, rolling to her side while holding her hand to her chest. The once dull throb came back at full force, slapping her back to reality. It hadn't been a dream. Everything had happened. She had killed people-

The door burst open, showing a ragged Bailey.

"Joe?! Are you alright-" her voice died down as she noticed the withering Joe on the floor, whispering curses left and right.

"What the hell are you doing on the floor?" Bailey asked as she scrambled forward to help her stand, Joe gave her a small glare and huffed.

"I fell." She grumbled, hissing again as she accidentally clenched her hand. Bailey looked down and frowned, noticing the blood splotches appearing in the once clean bandage. Last night Bailey had re-wrapped her hand after Joe and her had showered. They decided to leave Sarah, seeing as she had already passed out on the bed.

"C'mon, I'll rebandage it. But if you keep opening up the fresh scabs it'll scare." Bailey trailed off at the end, blinking tiredly. Looking closer, Joe noticed bags under Baileys eyes. She had almost missed it with her tan skin.

"I don't think scaring is the worst of our problems." Joe said, glancing to the covered windows as she sat on the couch with a small groan. Bailey went to her kitchen table where she had left the first aid kit she had had the previous night.

Joe glanced to the spare room, which held Sarah.

"Is she still asleep?" Joe questioned, looking down at the watch on her wrist, only to notice that it's hands stopped at 6pm and the glass was cracked.

"Yeah, I checked on her last night. She was about the same but her fever seemed to have risen. Also the power went out, so I lit some of your candles." Bailey sat next to Joe on the couch, carefully beginning to unwrap Joe's appendage.

Upon further inspection Joe noticed that the lamp was indeed off and her lavender scented candle was lit on her coffee table, along with some tall ones she had gotten from a wedding years ago.

"D'you get much sleep last night?" Joe asked, looking away with a hiss after getting a sight of her hand. It was raw and bloody, it looked like she punch a grate.

"No. Neither did you I take it." She commented, Joe snorted, leaning her head on her couch.

In truth, she had slept. But it was restless, and her mind was blank. And that scared her.

She always dreamed, she was dreamer. Sometimes waking up and thinking of her dreams was the highlight of her day. But there was nothing.

She yawned, rubbing her face with her left, and undamaged hand. As Bailey worked in silence, Joe began to trail off in thought.

It was quiet. Very quiet. Not just inside her house but everywhere in general.

No car horns, no noise of traffic, people talking, people screaming. There had been a lot of that earlier. But now?

Nothing but… silence.

"Do you hear that?" Joe asked, looking pointedly to her covered windows. Bailey froze, hands still applying a fresh layer of gauze.

"Hear what?" Her voice was tinted with confusion and a bit of fear.

"Exactly." Joe said, standing up as Bailey finished with her hand. She quietly walking towards her windows, her footsteps deafening.

"What are you doing?" Bailey whispered in panic, taking a small step back while eyeing the curtains fearfully. Now held a finger up to her lips and let go a quiet 'shh'.

Slowly she pulled a small crack open, leading into the street. Her heart dropped to her stomach.

There were bodies, laying half- half eaten in the street. Their organs in piles outside of their bodies. There were people- things eating the dead peoples organs.

She stumbled back, getting one last glance at the sky, dark grey smoke billowed up in different streams, seemingly filling the sky.

She fell to her ass with a gag, her hands flying to cover her mouth to prevent herself from screaming, scared- no, terrified that the- things outside would hear her.

"Joe?" Baileys voice broke, tears already streaming down her face as she helped her shuffle back away from the window.

"Joe?! What's going on?" Bailey said more panicked, glancing frantically between the window on the stricken girl. Joe swallows thickly.

"I- there-" she breathed ruggedly, fumbling to stand up, Bailey following her lead. She roughly ran her hand through her hair, the other hanging limply.

"There eating eachother.. in the streets." She harshly whispered, pacing slightly. The colour seemed to drain from Baileys face as she looked back at the window, the to Joe.

"Eating? Wh-where are the police? The S.W.A.T team?! The army?" Bailey whispered back quickly, trying to find some, any solution to what the fuck was going on.

"They're gone Bailey! Just-.. shit." Joe breathed out, slumping on the couch. Bailey slowly sat down, while giving slow, hesitant glances to the window.

"Gone?" Bailey said, voice just above a whisper. Joe didn't respond.

There was thump and then a groan. Joe's heart stopped. Slowly, both she and Bailey looked towards the spare room where the noise had sounded. Bailey gulped as Joe stood, quietly walking towards the door.

She halted in front of it, looking back to Bailey as the woman stood. She pointed at the gun and Bailey nodded, side stepping toward it and tossed it to Joe, who caught it and fixed her grip.

She closed her eyes a moment, gaining her composure. Grasping the handle with her left, she help the gun up in her right. Ignoring the agitating feeling it gave her.

With a deep breath she opened the door.

Instantly she was greeted to the sight of Sarah, laying on the floor.

She stepped forward, her heart rate steadily increasing. Sarah groaned, rolling onto her side. Joe froze.

"Sarah..?" Joe asked, scared to take another step forward.

"Yeah?" Sarah grumbled from the floor, coughing afterwards. Joe let out a huge sigh of relief, tossing the gun on the bed to help Sarah stand up.

"Bailey!" Joe called. The woman ushered in, a relieved smile in her face. Joe and Bailey both made eye contact. They had both feared the worst.

Bailey went to Sarah's other side, reaching out to help only for Sarah to scream as she made contact. The scream lasted antagonizing long and Once Joe was aware of what she was doing, she slapped her hand over Sarah's mouth, who whimpered, her arm hanging limply.

"What the hell-" Bailey began, only to be cut off as loud thumping and growls sounded from the window.

"Fuck." Joe spat, rushing forward, eyes wide. Bailey quickly grabbed onto Sarah, blindly following Joe.

"Joe?" Bailey asked, looking to the window with terrified eyes. They stood in the hall for a moment, Joe completely dumb struck. They were going to get in.

They were going to rip them open and eat them-

"JOE!" Bailey screamed as the window shattered and one of them fell through.

Without thinking Joe pivoted to the right, stumbling towards the staircase. The groaning and shuffling only made them stomp up the stairs quicker.

"There!" Joe yelled, referring to one of the bedrooms. They battled into the room, Bailey slamming the door shut behind them. Joe dropped Sarah to the floor who groaned. She rushed forward and began to push the queen sized bed in front of the door.

"Bailey help me!"she urged the woman, who stepped beside her and helped push. They stepped back, panting once they finished. Joe turned away as footsteps began to ascend the stairs, accompanied by hungry growls.

"Shit, shit, shit." She swore, pacing back and forth. Bailey crouched down to Sarah, frantically rubbing her back as if that would make everything alright, looking to Joe for help.

Joe stopped, staring out the bedroom window. Looking over the roofing, she could see people- the dead ones walking towards her house. Ice filled her veins. They weren't safe here. They needed to go, now.

Bailey cried out as hands began to bang on the door.

Joe yanked the window up, looking out on the roof. Then to the house next door. She looked back at her two companions.

"We can do it. Well jump on the roof of my neighbor, and hide in there." She spoke, walking back and helping Sarah stand.

"The roof? We're going to jump-"

"We don't have any other choice!" Joe cut Bailey's protests. As valid as they were they didn't have a choice. It was either jump or die. There was no way in hell she was dying before she got to her brother.

"Ok." Bailey said shakily, jumping as another harsh bang landed on the door. It was rattling hard now.

Joe stepped out first, got her footing and then began to help Sarah out, who wobbled slightly. She held the woman as Bailey herself climbed out.

"Close the window." Bailey did as told, them carefully made her way over.

The three woman slowly shuffled towards the edge of the roof. Peering down once they made it. A few of the dead ones had noticed them on the roof, and began to crowd together, reaching up feebly. They looked back as the door inside the bedroom slammed open, the sound of growls intensifying.

"Ok, I'll go and then Bailey you'll go, and then Sarah you'll go, and we'll help pull you the rest of the way up."

The distance wasn't far, with it only being around 5 feet, she was somewhat confident she would make it.

With a deep breath, Joe jumped, landing on her side with a grunt.

"C'mon Bailey." Joe wheezed, standing up. Bailey made sure Sarah wouldn't fall on her own, before jumping over. Joe helped her stand once she found her bearing.

The window shattered and Bailey gasped as a dead one came out with it.

"Sarah, jump!" Joe urged, holding her hand out, quickly glancing down at the growing pile of dead ones under them.

Sarah stumbled before jumping. As she made it to the other side, her foot slipped. And she was rugged down by gravity.

Joe yelled out as she grabbed Sarah's arm, Bailey holding on too. Sarah screamed, looking down terrified as the group adjusted and began reaching for her.

"Pull!" Joe wheezed, her voice dying with fear.

The dead one on the roof came tumbling down, bumping into Sarah as it plummeted. A dead one grabbed Sarah's foot, eliciting a scream. Bailey looked at the growing pile of dead ones with huge, wild eyes. She looked to Joe.

"Forgive me." She said. Joe looked at her confusingly, only to widen her eyes in horror as Bailey let go. Just as she was about to be tugged down, Bailey wrapped her arms around Joe's mid section, pulling her away from Sarah. Her grip slipped. Sarah fell.

"Sarah!" Joe screamed, however it was covered by Sarah's one of agony. The dead ones ripped into a withering Sarah. Joe gagged as Bailey began to pull her backwards.

"Forgive me." Bailey repeated.


	3. Chapter 3: Nightmares

The two woman sat in silence.

The dead ones had spread out through the day, although most still lingered.

Joe's leg continuously bobbed, her hands tightly grasped around one another. Her head turned away from Bailey who sat quietly, her head buried in her hands.

"I hate you." Joe spoke lowly, her voice scratching from screaming earlier. Bailey looked up, the tears in her eyes spilling over.

"She- you would've fallen. I didn't.. I didn't have a choice." Bailey attempted.

"Ever since the first day I met you. I hated you," Joe continued as if she hadn't heard the woman.

"You were such a bitch and whenever someone got in your way you were never afraid to shove them under the bus. But I dealt with it because you were my boss. But you-" Joe's voice broke, a quiet sob escaping her.

Bailey slumped back, opening her mouth as if to say something but nothing came out.

"We would've made it. I had her, I was pulling her up- and if you had just helped she would be-" Joe stopped, suddenly feeling like she couldn't breath.

"Oh god, you killed her. I killed her." Joe sobbed, her chest heaving. She rubbed her face with her hands, trying to wipe away the tears.

"We would've died because of her! I didn't have a choice-"

"There is always a choice," Joe said, suddenly enraged. S

"Always." She repeated, more weakly.

"I'm sorry.." Bailey muttered pathetically, pulling her legs to her chest while shakily breathing out.

Joe didn't respond.

* * *

She anxiously looked around herself, feeling that something was wrong but not knowing what.

Her hand gripped and she looked down, shocked. It didn't hurt, In fact it didn't looked damaged in anyway whatsoever. As if she hadn't punched the living shit out of a vent grate.

In her other hand she held a handgun, no, Sarah's handgun.

She stepped forward, the house looking familiar and not at the same time.

Driven forward by some invisible force, she headed towards the stairs, carefully and quietly climbing up them.

She wanted to stop, in fact a quiet pleading voice kept repeating, stop, stop, stop. Loud as if someone was talking in her ear yet quiet like someone screaming from miles away.

She continued on anyway, her gut starting to turn. internally begging to listen to the voice and just stop and give up.

As she climbed the rest of the stairs, she couldn't help but feel dread as a new noise filtered into her ears.

Dead ones, and lots of them were growling.

She stepped forward, looking down sharply as glass crunched beneath her sneakers.

Glass from the window she had broken when she and Bailey broke into her neighbors house.

She walked forward, the door in front of her slowly creaking open. Her heart stopped.

There in the roof stood a boy, in his teens, his blonde hair flowing in the breeze, his blue eyes wide and fearful.

"Sam?" She breathed out, now running forward and shoving herself through the empty window frame, nearly triping in the heaps of glass bellow.

"Joe..?" Sam asked, his eyes creasing, the way they always did when he smiled. But he wasn't smiling, he was gagging. Blood poured out of his mouth.

"No!" She shrieked, lunging forward as he began to fall, towards the mass of dead ones below.

Falling forwards she grabbed his arm, holding him in the hardest grip. But with dawning horror, she realized her grip was slipping.

"Sam!" She cried, attempting to pull him up, only for her to stay put, as if her front was glued to the roof.

"Please god no, please." She begged, ugly tears escaping her.

"Joe, you don't have a choice." Bailey suddenly spoke from beside her, stunning her to silence.

"It's either him or us." Bailey coursed, holding out the handgun, gesturing for Joe to grab it.

"What?" She asked, her voice failing.

"Him or us." Bailey spoke, nearly demanding now. And Joe noticed with a dreaded expression one of her hands was reaching for the gun.

"I-I can't." She sobbed, her grip still slipping.

"You don't have a choice." Bailey suddenly spoke with venom, her hand grabbing Joe's own and guiding the gun to point at Sam.

Sam lurched up, a growl ripping from his throat. Joe screamed, looking away. His face was grey, eyes bloodshot. He thrashed, jaw snapping.

"There's always a choice." Joe suddenly said in between sobs, her grip on her brothers arm nearly non existent.

"No, no there isn't." Bailey spoke, moving Joe's finger to the trigger.

A gunshot went off.

* * *

Joe lurched forward, a scream nearly escaping her.

She suddenly jerked to the side, the contents of her stomach leaving her.

She groaned once she was finished, leaning against the wall while wiping her mouth. Squinting her eyes she could see Bailey asleep on the floor across the room. A wave of hatred and frustration grew in Joe.

It had been a dream, a nightmare. But she knew Bailey was messed up, really fucking messed up. She- she had let Sarah fall as if it were nothing, and Sam.. even though it hadn't been real, she couldn't be sure Bailey wouldn't do it again. What would have happened if Joe had been the one dangling off the roof, would Bailey let her fall too?

She grimaced, another wave of bile rising in her throat. She stumbled to stand, swaying a little before leaning against the wall as her vision momentarily blackened.

Now that she had thought about it, she hadn't eaten since the dead ones came, even at the beginning of the day she had had only a coffee and a muffin. Not to mention the lack of drinking any water.

She stumbled over to the kitchen, holding her head as it began to pound. She wouldn't mind an aspirin or two, or the whole fucking bottle.

Opening the fridge, she sighed as the light didn't turn on, and it was no longer cool inside. Now it was muggy and hot from the Georgia summer heat.

She reached in and grabbed out a few like warm water bottles, quickly screwing the cap off of one and chugging the entire bottle. She left the empty bottle on the counter, moving towards the pantry and pulling out a box of cereal and a can of pringles.

She had only been in this house a few times a year or two ago, this house belonged to an older couple who liked to travel a lot, and she had been asked to come by and feed their cat every once and awhile.

She looked around slightly as she stuffed a handful of cereal in her mouth, as if expecting the cat to come out of nowhere. But it wouldn't come, she had heard about a couple months ago the old couple had said their cat ran away, so she didn't need to watch him while they left for Cuba.

Grabbing a bag of saltine crackers, she left a bottle of water and the crackers in front of Baileys unconscious form, a frown on her face.

As much as she hated- no despised Bailey. She was all she had. Everyone- maybe not everyone, hopefully Sam had been smart and stayed hidden when shit had hit, but he was in Atlanta. As far as she knew, she was alone here besides Bailey.

With the food in her arms, she moved to stairs and began to climb up them.

Her hand twitched and she looked down at her bandaged hand.

Something was missing. Something important.

Walking into the first room she saw, she put another handful of cereal into her mouth and dropped the food onto the bed. She had been so exhausted last night, she hadn't wanted to move, let alone explore the house and find a bed.

Joe moved to the dresser, looking into the mirror with a frown. She looked like hell. Bags had already started to form under her eyes, and there was a smudge of dirt on her left cheek. She scrubbed it with her hand slightly, noticing with a grimace that it too was dirty and only made her face messier.

She turned and opened the door to what she assumed was the master bathroom, and was correct as it lead to a tiled room with a toilet and sink. She went to the sink, turning the handle only to frown as water didn't come out. She played with the handles for a bit before huffing, stepping out of the bathroom. The water must have been cut off, maybe the bombing had compromised the water lines or something.

Her stomach turned at the thought of the bombing, they had been bombed, while still in the city. It was if the military was trying to wipe them out rather than save them.

But with that huge pile of dead ones that had- had- eaten Sarah, she knows they had been unsuccessful with containing whatever virus that broke out. She swallowed hard.

If this could even be considered a virus, it was more like a disease. A disease that brings you back to life and gives you a craving for flesh. All those people had been injured fatally or had.. bite marks on them. So not only did you turn into a dead one when you die, but it's transmittable either by blood of saliva, she doesn't know.

But how can you cure someone that has died? You can't.

She sighed, rubbing her forehead as the headache became noticeable again.

She wonders if the hospital is alright. If Simon was alright. He had ran off to get help, even though everywhere else looked like hell. She hopes to god he is alright. Maybe he was still at the hospital?

She opened the can of Pringles and put a few in her mouth, crunching the chips as she looked out the window. There were only a few dead ones in the street, the rest had wandered off in the night after an explosion near Atlanta had sounded. She had been too tired to focus last night and-

her heart suddenly picked up pace.

Sam was fine, he wouldn't be caught in the bombs. He's safe with their grandparents in their condo, holed up in hiding. Scared, but alive. right?

She frowned, looking at the roof through the window. She could see where they had jumped across, where Sarah had fell- had been dropped. Tears welled up in her eyes and she hastily rubbed them away.

It was also the place from her dream. Where she had been forced to kill Sam. Her beautiful baby brother who was safe- he had to be safe, in Atlanta. Bailey had forced her to shoot him. With a gun, the gun that she had used to kill civilians. Sick people.

But the gun, where was the gun..

Her heart froze, and with dread she looked to her house. She had set down the gun to help Sarah when she had fallen, only to leave it in the panic as the dead ones got into her home. Their only protection was left in her house. She could just imagine it sitting there, mocking her for leaving it behind.

They needed that gun. She wouldn't let Bailey near it- even though it was silly to not trust her because of a dream, her gut still turned at the idea of the woman handling a loaded weapon. She had to get it.

She walked out of the room, headache forgotten. Quietly racing down the stairs, she went to the kitchen, grabbed the largest knife out of the set and stood still. What the hell was she doing? Was she actually going to risk her life for a gun?

Thoughts of dead ones breaking in again, dozens of them falling through the windows flashed in her mind. She couldn't kill a group of them alone with a knife, she had no training with fighting. She was a surgeon, not someone who deals with combat.

But that wasn't true, was it? She had killed Rebekah, she had shot those civilians and continued on. To save herself, Bailey, and Sarah. But for what? Sarah's dead. Bailey killed her, and she couldn't do anything to stop her.

She looked down at the knife with a shaky breath, her right hand tightening around it. She only had one hand right now. She couldn't do this, not alone anyway. Placing the knife on the counter. She walked back to the spot she had slept, and sat down. Leaning her head on the wall and closing her eyes.

Who was she kidding, even thinking of going back to get the gun was insane.

* * *

Bailey woke with a start, sitting up with a small grimace. She felt like complete shit, physically and emotionally. Everything had gone to shit so fast, and she had panicked on the roof. What else could she have done? Watch as Joe got dragged down with Sarah and eaten?

She glanced over at Joe who was slumped over on the ground, her chest rising and falling. Bailey moved her leg and frowned as it bumped into something.

She picked up the water bottle and bag of crackers that was left at her feet, and looked to Joe. She was the only one who could have left food out, because that definitely wasn't there when she had sat down. Or at least she hadn't noticed it if it had already been there.

Opening the bag, she stuffed a few crackers into her mouth, chugging down some water with it. Standing up with the crackers in hand, Bailey looked around for a minute, taking note of her surroundings.

She walked towards the kitchen, after noticing a glint. Upon getting closer, she noticed it was a knife, and a small pint of paranorma began to fester in her stomach. She looked back at Joe hesitently, as if she moved to fast she would get up and attack her. Surely the knife had been there before they had entered right? But doubt lingered. Why, would a almost perfectly untouched house have a random knife left on the counter? Maybe the family had left it out in their haste to flee? But what would be the odds.

Bailey began to shuffle towards the knife, unknowingly trying to make her footsteps lighter. Joe wouldn't have used the knife on _her_ , right? Memories of earlier resurfaced, Joe saying how much she had hated- still hated her. Joe had been very pissed, even though Bailey had been the one to save her life. If it weren't for her, Joe too would be taken down and attacked by the group of dead bastards.

Grabbing the knife, making sure it didn't drag on the tile. Joe doesn't hate her that much, does she? doesn't hate her enough to stab her, right?. As quietly as she could she slipped the knife into her boot. Just in case, she reassured herself. As she went to walk away and try to forget of her anxiety towards Joe, she froze. As they were escaping the hospital, Joe had had a gun, she shot people. That fact alone didn't scare Bailey, no, it was Joe's aim that worried her. Every time she had shot, she hit what she wanted for the majority of the time, if she recalls correctly, she had shot 3 people in the head, barely missing. Slowly she turned to Joe, who was still slumped over asleep.

Where was the gun? She didn't seem to have it on her, she was only in a t-shirt and a pair of pants, which had no pockets. It could be stuffed in the back of her pants however. Edging forward slowly, Bailey eyed Joe as if she was about to jump up and bite her, or shoot her. Leaning over Joe, Bailey held her breath, releasing it and stepping back once she realized nothing was in Joe's pants. If it wasn't there, where was it? Had Joe hidden it from her?

"Just rethink- you're not thinking clearly Bailey." she spoke to herself, letting out a few calming breaths. She sat on the couch the two had ignored when they first entered and closed her eyes. Thinking back to when Bailey had woken up from blankly staring at a candle. She remebers hearing a loud thud come from the room Joe had been sleeping in. worried, she rushed to it and found Joe on the floor. She helped Joe up, redid her bandages and then there had been a thud from Sarah's room this time. Joe went to investigate and she had stayed back, too scared to face what might have laid behind the door.

Joe opened the door, then dropped the gun on the table and rushed in to help Sarah, Relieved she hadn't turned into one of thoe things. They ran up the stairs once the dead began to break in-

Bailey opened her eyes. The gun was on the table in the other house. Joe had left it behind for Sarah. Joe wasn't hiding it from her, waiting for her to let her guard down and use said gun on her. It was fine, she was and would be fine. Joe didn't want to kill her.

She layed down on her side, her eyes sliding shut. Everything was fine. She hadn't realized she drifted off before it was too late.

* * *

It was cold, and dark.

It didn't take her long to realize she was outside. Bailey looked around, rubbing her arms furiously to hopefully return some heat to her body, but it only made her colder.

Walking forward, she opened the first door she saw to the building in front of her, which led to the inside of the hospital.

Her throat clogged at the state the hospital was in. blood, blood was everywhere. The walls, the floor, the ceiling. Which there wasn't much of anymore, plaster had fallen to the ground, leaving wires and the occasional pipe hanging low into the corridors. Stepping forward she gagged, her foot sinking into a puddle of blood. She wanted- no, needed to turn around and leave. But she kept walking forward anyway, with no control of her body anymore.

She went to scream for help, but nothing came out but- laughter? She was laughing, no, she was _giggling_. That horrified her on a different level. Walking forward in the ankle deep blood, she followed the path chosen for her blindly. Turning to the right, her heart lurched. Down the hall, the mostly dark hall, was an open door with a stream of light shining. The blood began to dissipate the closer she got to the door, eventually she was stood in front of it, squinting her eyes at the blinding light coming though.

Even though it looked to be a safe haven, clean and pure looking. A wave of fear crashed onto her, sending her heart beating and her mouth drying. Whatever was in there felt worse then what was out here, where Bailey stood. She was suddenly shoved forward, sent tumbling into the room.

She cried out at the bright light, her hands flying up in attempt to block it out, but it had already began to fade to a normal, fluorescent lighting glow. Looking around, she realized she was in ER 2, the one she had been yesterday when shit had hit the fan. Looking to the floor, she halted at the sight of a decaying man on the floor, his fingers twitching.

Moving forward without a choice, she let out a low cry as the man began to turn to her, showing his growling face. It was the man that had been on the table, the one she had- she had-

"I- I didn't want to-" she tried, still walking forward.

"H-help me." the man pleaded, still growling, but his eyes were human. They were begging eyes. Bailey went to say of course but instead she tripped, falling forward towards the man. Fear spiked in her heart at the thought of landing on him and being eaten, but instead she felt something cold slip in her hand. She didn't have a chance to see what it was before she was falling on top of the man, and ultimately stabbing him in the head with what she held in her hand, a scalpel. A sob escaped her as she stared down at his body helplessly, blood spurting from where she stabbed his skull. She slumped to her knees, blood beginning to form in a puddle.

"Oh god no- i- i-" she covered her face with her hands, her body shaking.

"I'm sorry, please, forg-" uncovering her face, her ugly crying stopped once she noticed the body was gone, all that remained was the puddle of blood. She stared, snot dripping from her nose as something else dripped into the puddle. And then again, and again. Scrunching up her eyebrows, she gasped harshly at what the puddle reflected.

"Sarah!" she screamed as a body, Sarah's body landed with a thud in the puddle, splattering blood onto Bailey. Shakily, frozen with horror, Bailey looked up. Only to see Joe, leaned over the edge with her hand extended out.

"Joe i-" Bailey looked down sharply as Sarah began to scream in agony. Hands, a whole group of them began to emerge from under the floor, tearing and pulling Sarah under. Bailey reached forward, her hand grabbing Sarah's, and to her horror, she realized she was laughing again. But she wasn't giggling, no, she was in full blown hysterics, her face flush and eyes shining with glee.

"Sarah-" Bailey tried to call out with sorrow, only to break off in a laugh. Looking up with watery eyes, she watched as Joe now pointed the gun at her. Her eyes boiling with rage.

"Joe please, I never wanted this.." Bailey pleaded, an insane grin spreading across her face.

"I always hated you." Joe spat, pulling the trigger.

* * *

Bailey jolted forward, scattering off the couch and landing in a heap on the floor, panting for breath. Looking around quickly, making sure it had been a dream. Tears leaked from her eyes as she curled into herself.

She needed that gun.


	4. Chapter 4: Departure

Once Bailey calmed down, she stood up, the sense of danger around Joe heightened. Quietly, she began to walk towards the back door.

If she was going to get the gun, she needed to do it now while Joe was asleep and unaware of her. As she stopped in front of the back door, her heart began to race. Everything would be alright as soon as she got the gun, and if needed she would shoot Joe to protect herself. It was her or Joe, and she would kill Joe if that meant she would survive.

Peaking through the backdoor blindes, Bailey let out a small sigh of relief once she didn't see any sign of the dead people. As much as she needed that gun, confronting any of the dead ones was _not_ on her agenda. As quietly as she could, Bailey turned the lock on the door and turned the knob, relishing in the cool night breeze that drifted through the now ajar door.

Stepping out of the house, and closing the door behind herself, Bailey pulled the kitchen knife from her boot. Holding it tightly in her right hand. She held her breath, looking around frantically. She was really doing this. This was happening.

She crouched down, slowly walking along the side of the house. Looking around herself like a madwoman, she grimaced at every step she took, terrified that her footsteps were too loud, that the subtle crunching of grass would draw the dead.

As she came to the corner, Bailey glanced to her right and left, the air leaving her lungs at the sight of a dead one in the street. As quickly as she could, she ran to Joe's house, her heart threatening to burst out of her chest. Luckily for her, the houses were built close together.

She pressed herself against the wall as she reached Joe's house, looking around to make sure nothing had taken notice to her. Being that it was night time, her body was mostly shadowed by the houses, she was safe, for now anyway.

Bailey's breathing felt laboured, the back of her shirt moist with sweat and scratching along the brick outing of Joe's house as she slowly moved along the wall. The knife momentarily clincked against the brick and she jerked forward, cringing at the noise. Bailey nearly choked when a growl began to emerge from around the corner. Her eyes widened, hands clenched into fists, knuckles turning white as the dead one showed itself, it's lower jaw completely missing, gore and blood was smeared on every visible part of it, it's leg was dragging limply behind it.

A quiet cry tore from her throat, drawing it's attention to her location. Once it noticed her form, it began to slowly limp towards her, it's hands reaching out while a guttered growl rose from its throat. Bailey ran around the corner, wanting, no _needing_ to get away—

Time seem to slow, her body stumbled to a halt and she was sure her heart wasn't beating anymore. There, stood in front of her, about 15 feet away, walking and bumping into each other was a _very_ big, and terrifying group of dead ones. All bearded together as if they were a flock of birds migrating. She couldn't move. Bailey felt that if she even breathed too loud the group would turn and devour her.

She hadn't even noticed what had walked behind her before it was too late.

A scream tore from her throat as a dead one's teeth chewed into her shoulder, blood instantly spurting out from the wound. Shoving the dead one to the ground with a weak cry, her hand flew up to her shoulder, the knife fell from her nonexistent grip, forgotten in the grass.

A sob escaped her throat, her head turning back to the group wildly. They all took notice of her, now stumbling forward, getting way too close for her liking. Backing away, nearly tripping as the dead one on the ground went to grab her ankle, Bailey turned and began to run back to the house where she had been safe before.

But she just had to leave to get that gun, didn't she? it was all Joe's fault, If she hadn't made her so paranoid, She wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place. Fumbling with the back door, she looked over her shoulder one last time. Her face paling at the sight of the heard of dead ones on her heels. Their melting faces slick with blood shinned in the moonlight, looking like aperishions from hell sent by the devil himself.

Quickly opening the door and running in, she slammed it close behind herself, leaning against it. She needed to leave, _now._ As much as she hated to admit it, (no, she really didn't hate to admit it, in fact she felt somewhat relieved) Joe would be the perfect distraction for her escape. The dead ones would be too distracted with Joe to notice her slipping away—

"Bailey?" Joe called out, standing uneasily in front of her, glancing at the back door, and then Baileys bleeding shoulder. Said woman froze, looking at Joe as if she could hear Bailey's rather incriminating thoughts.

"I- I can explain-" Bailey began in a low whimper, only to be cut off as hands began to bang on the door, one hitting so hard that the back door window shattered. Bailey lunged forward, out of the way of grabbing hands. Sprawling out into the floor, she burst into tears, the hit throbbing in her shoulder not helping the situation. Bailey looked up fearful, scared that Joe would turn away and leave her alone, while she sobbed on the floor and becoming the horrendous' groups next meal as they drew closer and closer.

However, even though her eyes shone with horror, Joe ran forward and helped Bailey stand up, dragging the woman with her up the stairs.

No words were shared between the two as they fled to the upstairs bathroom, locking themselves in.

* * *

Joe cursed as their only escape way was a window, with no ledge for them to land on. She went to turn and run to another room, only to freeze as hands began to bang on the door, bloody, decaying fingers trying the pry away at the bottom of the door, blood smearing from their grabby fingers on the once pristine granite flooring.

Joe stepped, more like tripped, backwards, landing on her ass, gagging. The painful tile she landed on not registering in her already clouded mind.

No, because right now, she has never felt closer to death then before this moment. Her frantic eyes looked over to Bailey, who was slumped over, eyes wide with fear.

"What- what _the fuck happened, Bailey?"_ Joe growled, her head thumping with terrified fury.

Imagine her surprise when waking up to an empty room, she had searched around, and when the panic of Bailey being nowhere to be found set in, the woman had barged through the back door. Her shoulder bleeding, eyes wide, and then the dead came.

"I just— I tried to- I-"

"Holy _fuck_ , Bailey! You tried to what?" Joe yelled, standing up suddenly. Bailey shuffled back, her fear now directed towards Joe.

"I just- I'm _sorry_." Bailey sobbed, tears instantly springing to her already moist eyes. Joe stared down at the bleeding woman with bewilderment. A shaky breath left her. Whatever the hell Bailey was doing, did not matter, at least not right now.

Tripping towards the window, Joe's body slammed into the wall as her fingers quickly began prying open the window. She was starting to get _real_ tired of jumping out of windows.

Once she found the lock, she flew the window up, with as much force to rattle the frame. A gust of night air blew through, the mucky heat blowing hotly against her sweating face.

About two feet away from the window sat a large oak tree, the leaves and twigs swinging hauntedly in the wind. Gulping, she looked to the 2 story drop if they were to miss grabbing onto a branch. But it was a chance they were going to have to make. They had no other choice.

"We're jumping." Joe stated, turning on her heel and hurriedly making her way towards the sobbing woman, who was clutching at her shoulder.

"W-what?" Bailey asked, looking at Joe fearfully, then frantically glancing at the bathroom window.

Making sure to grab Bailey's good arm, Joe hoisted the woman up, ignoring her pained moan.

"Look, I don't know what the hell you were doing, and I don't care, but _this-"_ Joe gestured to the tree outside of the window, trying to get her thoughts together while trying not to scream at the banging, demanding hands just outside the thin bathroom door.

"-is our only out." She finished, releasing Bailey who continued to stare at Joe, now with barely concealed horror.

"Ho- _how?"_ It was a question, and drew out into a whimper. Joe nearly growled, eyes fierce.

"You go first, I'll follow right after." Joe instructed, ignoring the irrelevant question. Bailey took a small step forward, tears still leaking from her eyes, the front and side of her shirt soaked with blood. For a moment Bailey didn't move, and then she braced her arms on the window seal, wincing at the pain that shot around her shoulder in hot flashes.

"Just grab the bran—"

" _Shut_ _up_." Bailey hissed out between grit teeth, leaning out of the window, eyes comically wide. Joe pushed aside the comment, helping Bailey hoist herself out of the window.

Bailey numbly swung her hand out once for the branch, falling forward, and nearly out the window as she missed. A small shout tore from her lips and Joe hissed at her to be quiet, not wanting to draw any of the dead towards the tree.

Groaning, she reached for the branch against, this time managing to wrap her fingers around it in a vice grip.

"You'll have to grab it with your other hand too, and then swing down. It's a big drop, so brace yourself." Joe instructed, looking back harshly over her shoulder as a rather powerful hit went against the door, the dim sound of splintering wood sending her heart on overdrive.

Bailey huffed painfully, with her hand not being able to hold onto her wound, blood gushed out freely, now working its way to soaking her pant leg.

Reaching out, she swung her arm strongly, a yelp escaping her as her shoulder throbbed with vengeance. She dragged her body out of the frame, her arms giving a hard tug as they now supported her weight. Breathing raggedly, Bailey glanced down, a fresh wave of tears overcoming her.

Joe shouted, "Let _go!"_

And she did, arms flying madly as she waited for the landing, which came sooner then she would have liked. Bailey landed on her feet, tears shooting to her eyes as her ankle gave way and her leg buckled, sending her sprawling on the grass floor.

* * *

Cracks began to form in the bathroom door, the growls becoming louder with each passing second. Joe rushed forward, nearly throwing herself out of the window.

She reached out, easily grabbing onto the branch.

Just then, the door slammed open, the hinges practically flew out of place. In came the stench of the rotting dead.

Yanking herself away from the window, and out into the night, she reached up quickly to grab the branch with her other hand. Swiping for it, she felt her eyes cracking wide open as she missed. Balance thrown off, her other hand loses grip.

It was too late, she feebly reached up again, but she was already falling.

It felt terrifying yet amazing for a moment, like the first drop on a rollercoaster.

And then her back hit the ground, all the air was forced out of her lungs as if an elephant had stepped on them, and a sickening pop rang from her shoulder.

Hot tears spring to her eyes, she wheezed, not having enough air to scream from the pain scorching her shoulder.

Weakly, slowly, she crawled towards Bailey, who was nursing her ankle.

God, she had never felt closer to giving up then in this moment, sleep just sounded so tempting, not feeling anything anymore—

* * *

" _You're sure you'll be alright?" She couldn't help but worry, letting the mawing teeth of doubt linger._

" _Yes, I'll be alright, have a little faith in me." Sam laughed,shaking his head at her._

 _Joe huffed, but the smile creeping on her face was unavoidable. He was going to be fine._

" _Besides, shouldn't I be saying that you_ you? _You're the one leaving, not me." He pointed out, leaning against the taxi as Joe hoisted her last suitcase into the trunk._

" _I'm an_ adult. _Completely different." She informed him, teasingly grinning._

" _Sure don't act like it." He muttered. Her eyes narrowed, and she quickly pulled him into a head lock, rubbing her closed fist into his skull._

" _Oh yeah, wise guy? You want to say that again?" She challenged. He squirmed in her grip, playfully slapping at her arms._

" _Ok," he wheezed, "Tap out." She let him go with a laugh, smiling as he stumbled away while rubbing his neck and attempting to fix his hair at the same time._

" _Jeez, what are you, a gorilla- ow!"_

" _No!" She shouted, slapping the back of his head. He looked up, that stupid infections grin on her face, his eyes creasing at the corners._

 _She let the laughter building in her chest bubble out, and was quickly followed by Sam. Pulling him into a crushing hug, they slowly controlled themselves, staying in the moment inside of each other's arms._

" _You'll come visit us here in Atlanta, yeah?" He mumbled into her shoulder, before pulling back to look into her eyes. She smiled again, a more somber one._

" _Of course."_

* * *

Looking back through bleary eyes, Joe forced herself to move, to get up, because _now_ was _not_ her time to give up. Sam, he was waiting, for _her_ to get off her ass and _live._

Another dead one came tumbling out of the bathroom window, the very same one the two woman had just vacated. It's body landed on the ground with a sickening squelch, it's movements stilled.

"Bailey." She rasped, pushing herself shakily to her knees with her right arm, ignoring the burn in her bandaged appendage.

" _Bailey."_ She tried again, her left arm dangled limply, swaying slightly like an abused pendulum. Bailey's head snapped to her, and then behind her, and let out a low wimper. Joe struggled to her feet, breathing in and out, focusing on breathing, just breathing, because the lights were fading and unconsciousness was crawling towards her like a reaper.

"We need— to _go."_ She yanked on Bailey's shirt with her free and not dangling hand. A harsh sob wracked Bailey's body, but she stood, leaning on Joe so she wouldn't put pressure on her left ankle.

Joe hissed, willing the dark spots away from her vision as Bailey's hand brushed her wounded arm as she swung her arm around Joe's shoulders.

She couldn't tell whether it was broken, or just out of its socket, from the pain she was feeling, it _felt_ broken. But most likely it was just popped.

The two woman made a slow pace, shuffling away from Joe's house, away from all of the dead, away from the place where Sarah took her last breath.

Away from her home.

Tears finally leaked out of Joe's eyes, whether it was from the pain, or the sorrow, she couldn't tell.

She _could_ tell, that they were no longer safe, defenceless, stuck out in the open in smoggy night air.

So the question was, where now?

And she didn't know, she really didn't.


End file.
